Entertainer Al Simmons recently visited the Marysville Public Library in Marysville, Kansas, for a workshop that introduced objects like tin cans and wrenches as musical instruments to about 30 excited elementary school students.Entertainer Al Simmons recently visited the Marysville Public Library in Marysville, Kansas, for a workshop that introduced objects like tin cans and wrenches as musical instruments to about 30 excited elementary school students.
“Music is everywhere,” Simmons said. “The main thing is not to be afraid to make music and try new musical instruments.” Simmons’ workshop, “Sounds Crazy,” instructed students on how to make a wide variety of instruments and noise-makers using everything from drinking straws to wet strings. He demonstrated easy ways to build rainsticks out of Styrofoam tubes, toothpicks, and corn kernels. He led the group in a jam session and, at the event’s conclusion, donated to the library his “Al Simmons Collection,” which included three CDs, his book Counting Feathers, and his DVD, I Collect Rocks.